


Show of Goodwill

by BerryBagel



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M, Gift Fic, everyone has a nice time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 01:04:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17132111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BerryBagel/pseuds/BerryBagel
Summary: Lyanna Mormont is betrothed to the prince, and travels south to King's Landing





	Show of Goodwill

**Author's Note:**

> For tumblr user @queenlyannamormonts
> 
> Merry Christmas from your secret santa!

Lyanna Mormont does not want to be married.

 

She does not want to go south, and leave Bear Island, and do needlepoint.  She knows every pathway through the woods of Bear Island, and Dacey was going to teach her how to hunt with a bow and arrow.  She doesn't think there are even forests in King’s Landing.

 

But, Maege patiently explains, she needs to marry the prince.  Not immediately, but eventually. There’s been discontentment brewing among the northern lords.  Talk of rebellion, and war. The royal family wants to make a show of goodwill, by betrothing their younger son to a northern lady.

 

Lyanna does not particularly feel a sense of goodwill towards the crown.  She doesn’t even particularly think of herself as a northern lady. But she doesn't want the north to have to go to war, so she agrees to the betrothal.  Dacey helps her write a letter to Prince Tommen. She draws a bear sigil next to her signature.

 

* * *

 

Tommen is so excited to meet Lyanna.  She just arrived in King’s Landing yesterday, and he finally gets to join her for breakfast.  She sits at the table, frowning into a bowl of porridge. Tommen has never much liked porridge, either.

 

He smiles at her, and she narrows her eyes at him.  She must be tired from her travel, he thinks. It must be difficult to travel all the way from the north.  She's still dressed as if for the cold, wrapped in furs and thick layers.

 

Tommen is holding two of his new kittens.  They were skittish at first, but once they learned he would always treat them with kindness, they relaxed into their new home.  Maybe befriending Lyanna will be the same way. Has anyone shown her kindness, since she arrived? He sits down in the chair next to her, careful not to jostle the kittens.  Lady Whiskers is sleeping.

 

“Would you like to hold Boots?” He asks her.

 

“No.” She replies, not looking at him.

 

But she does reach out to pet Boots’s fur.

 

* * *

Lyanna came to King’s Landing to do her duty to her family.  And here she is, doing her duty. The thing is, there's not much expected of her now.  No one asks her to go fishing or help skin rabbits. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd say most everyone has practically forgotten she's here.  That's fine, she's small and easy to miss, and this way she can do what she wants.

 

No one, actually, expects her to do needlepoint.  So she explores the different passageways around the keep.  She pours over handwritten accounts of famous battles. She listens to Tyrion, the master of coin, and learns how to plan a tournament with budgeting and expenses.

 

At first, she tries to write about everything in letters to Dacey.  Her first letter home is more like a short book. But by the time she gets a message in response, it’s weeks and weeks later.

 

So she talks about everything with Tommen.  The prince is kind. Unlike the others, he doesn't overlook her.  In fact, she thinks he's often overlooked, himself. Tommen listens better than anyone she's ever met.  When she tells him how she read all about The Dance With Dragons, he listens with rapt silence throughout the entire story.  Then he asks questions, and the two of them find themselves leafing through the old book together looking for answers.

 

* * *

 

Tommen has never felt so busy as in these months since Lyanna came to King's Landing.  It's no longer enough to sit and play with the kittens and try new foods in the kitchen.  No, now his days are filled with a torrential stream of new information. Lyanna has never been in a sept before, and makes him teach her all about the Seven.  Then she realizes that  _ he's _ never heard about the Old Gods, and tells him everything she knows about them.  She tells him that everyone in the North believes in the Old Gods, and then they need to find a map so she can point out exactly which keeps are in the north, and where Bear Island is, and trace the roads she took to King’s Landing.

 

Tommen is too young to really put the sentiment into words, but he admires the sense of purpose with with Lyanna lives her life.  She does not merely  _ exist _ , she takes control of her life and the world around her.

 

* * *

 

Lyanna sits next to Tommen at the table.  He had promised to teach her how to use the wax seal stamp.  This week, Dacey will be receiving a letter embellished with the crown’s sigil.  Tommen has promised to get her a stamp to use with a bear on it. When they marry, he says, he’ll add the bear into his sigil alongside the stag and the lion.  There's already two animals on there, what's one more?

 

Even after the letter is completed and sealed, Lyanna stays at the table.  There's something pleasant about being in Tommen’s company. He's in no rush to go anywhere, either, so she rests her head against his shoulder and closes her eyes.

  
Maybe Lyanna Mormont  _ does _ want to be married.


End file.
